Container assembly



Jan. 3, 1967 w. R. COBB 3,295,904

CONTAINER ASSEMBLY Filed DGO. 18, 1964 WITNESSES INVENTOR Mfw Wnnum R. Cobb ATTORNEY United States Patent Ofhce 3,295,904 Patented Jari.' 3, l 967 3,295,964 CONTAINER ASSEMBLY William R. Cobb, Columbus, Ohio, assignor to Westinghouse 'Electric Corporation, East Pittsburgh, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Filed Dec. 13, 1964, Ser. No. 419,448

2 Claims. (Cl. S12-270) This invention relates to a combination container and lid structure, and more particularly to a container-lid structure `which is adapted to be slidably supported in a cabinet structure.

In the design of refrigerator cabinets of the domestic type, it is common practice to provide one or more containers for the storage of specific commodities. These storage containers are generally used asr vegetable crispers or meat keepers, depending on the specific temperature range maintained in the container. One of the requirements of these containers in general, however, is that they be closed to the ambient of the refrigerator compartment, for the proper control of humidity and temperature.

Heretofore, containers of the type described have been provided with sheet metal covers, plastic covers, or positioned on glides that are part of a gasketed enclosure. As most of these containers are slidably supported within the refrigerator compartment, and positioned beneath a shelf structure, it is necessary in some instances to completely remove the container to have access to the interior thereof. This feature is objectionable when it is desirable to remove only a portion of the contents of a storage container.

It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a container enclosure assembly of the type supported between glideways, wherein access to the container is easily accomplished without removing the container from the glideways.

Another object of the invention is to provide piece cover for a container, which provides easy to the interior of the container.

A further object of the invention is to provide a one piece closure member for a container which is easily manufactured and adaptable for containers presently in use.

The various objects, features and advantages of the invention will appear more fully from the detailed description which follows, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this application, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective View of a domestic refrigerator cabinet having the invention employed therein;

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the container assembly and adjacent structure of FIG. 1, taken on an enlarged scale to better show details of the invention;

FIG. 3 is a side elevational view of the container and lid structure of FIG. 2, showing that structure removed from the cabinet;

FIG. 4 is a sectional View taken along line IV-IV of FIG. 2 showing further details of the invention; and,

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along line V-V of FIG. 2 showing details of the lid construction.

Although the principles of the invention are broadly applicable to open `top containers having a closure member therefor, the invention has been herein illustrated as employed in a domestic refrigerator cabinet and will be so described.

'aCCCSS n and is held in place by the glideways.

Referring to the drawings, especially FIG. l, there is shown a domestic refrigerator cabinet 10 having a food storage compartment 11 defined by a sheet metal liner 12. Disposed within the compartment 11 are a plurality of shelves including shelf member 13, which may be attached to liner 12 by any suitable means well known in the manufacture of refrigerator cabinets.

' Referring now to FIGS. 2 and 4, it will be noted that a pair of parallel glideways 14 and 16 are disposed in spaced relation adjacent the lower surface of the shelf 13. The glideways 14 and 16 are in the form of channel members which are attached to the shelf 13 by screws or other suitable attachments, Vnot shown. Each of the glideways 14 and 16 is so spaced as to provide a slidable support for a container andlid assembly 17, which assembly has its edges received in interitting engagement within the channel members.

Referring to FIG. 3, the container and lid assembly 17 comprises a container or pan 18 having a top opening, and an outwardly projecting lip 19 disposed at the periphery of the top opening. A closure member 21 is disposed adjacent the periphery of the pan 18 for covering the top opening of the pan.

The closure member 21 has an L-shaped fiange 22 disposed at opposite edges of a first portion of the member, and a downwardly projecting ange 23 at the rear of the member. The L-shaped flange 22 projects downwardly and beneath the lip 19, receiving the lip in relatively tight intertting engagement. The closure member 21 has a second portion provided with a downwardly extending flange 23 disposed adjacent the forward portion of the lip 19. At opposite sides of the closure member 21, there is provided a notched opening 24 between the L-shaped ange 22 and the downwardly projecting flange 23.

The closure member 21 is manufactured from a fleXible material such as polypropylene plastic, or similar material. As best shown in FIG. 2, the notched openings 24 provide a hinge portion between the notched openings, about which the forward portion of the member 21 is movable.

Referring to FIG. 3, the pan and lid assembly 17 is assembled outside the glideways 14 and 16 by forcing the lip 19 of the pan or container 18 into the openings adjacent'the flange 22. The assembly 17 is then received between the glideways 14 and 16 as shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, and may be freely moved from a position within the compartment 11 t0 the position shown in FIG. 2. While the assembly 17 remains with the entire closure member 21 between the glideways 14 and 16, the closure member provides a substantial seal for the container 18 However, when it is desirous to remove objects from the container 18, the assembly 17 is moved to the position shown in FIG. 2, and the hinge portion above the notches 24 permits movement of the front closure portion to provide access to the interior of the container.

The one piece closure member 21 may be manufactured by an injection molding process from polypropylene or other similar plastic material, and is therefore simple and inexpensive to manufacture, further, the lid is of a type easily installed on refrigerator pans in common use. The invention, therefore, provides a container and closure member assembly which is inexpensive to manufacture, and is readily adaptable for use in meat keepers, vegetable crispers, etc.

In addition, the container assembly is easily supported adjacent a simple non-gasketed shelf member, and still remains adequately sealed.

While the invention has been shown in but one form, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that it is not so limited, but is susceptible of various changes and modifications without departing from the spirit thereof.

What is claimed is:

1. In combination;

a pair lof parallel glideways disposed in space relation,

a hollow container having a top opening and an outwardly projecting lip slidably engaged in said pair of glideways,

a one piece closure member for covering said top opening, said closure member having a rst portion disposed adjacent the lip of said container, and

a second por-tion disposed adjacent the lip of said container in the closed position and movable to an open position for providing access to the interior of said container, and i f a IieXible hinge portion integrally molded between said first portion and said second portion of said closure member said second portion being movable to an open position only when said lip adjacent said second portion is disengaged from said glideways.

2. In combination;

a pair of parallel glideways disposed in space relation,

a hollow container having a top opening and an outwardly projecting lip disposed at the periphery thereof and slidably engaged in said glideways,

one piece closure member of molded llexible material for covering said top opening, said member having rst portion disposed adjacent the lip of said container and including downwardly projecting ange of L-shaped crosssection engaging said outwardly projecting lip of said container second portion disposed in contact with the lip of said container and movable to a position out of contact therewith for providing access to the interior of said container, and

exible hinge portion integrally molded between said rst portion and said second portion of said closure member,

said second portion being movable to an open position only when said lip contacting said second portion is disengaged yfrom said glideways.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,560,376 7/1951 waterman 22o-24 FOREIGN PATENTS l,3l9,370 1/1963 France.

CLAUDE A. LE ROY, Primary Examiner.

30 F. DOMOTOR,'Assist/1t Examiner. 

1. IN COMBINATION; A PAIR OF PARALLEL GLIDEWAYS DISPOSED IN SPACE RELATION, A HOLLOW CONTAINER HAVING A TOP OPENING AND AN OUTWARDLY PROJECTING LIP SLIDABLY ENGAGED IN SAID PAIR OF GLIDEWAYS, A ONE PIECE CLOSURE MEMBER FOR COVERING SAID TOP OPENING, SAID CLOSURE MEMBER HAVING A FIRST PORTION DISPOSED ADJACENT THE LIP OF SAID CONTAINER, AND A SECOND PORTION DISPOSED ADJACENT THE LIP OF SAID CONTAINER IN THE CLOSED POSITION AND MOVABLE TO AN OPEN POSITION FOR PROVIDING ACCESS TO THE INTERIOR OF SAID CONTAINER, AND A FLEXIBLE HINGE PORTION INTEGRALLY MOLDED BETWEEN SAID FIRST PORTION AND SAID SECOND PORTION OF SAID CLOSURE MEMBER SAID SECOND PORTION BEING MOVABLE TO AN OPEN POSITION ONLY WHEN SAID LIP ADJACENT SAID SECOND PORTION IS D DISENGAGED FROM SAID GLIDEWAYS. 